Improvement in sewing-machine



L. W. LATH'ROP.

v v Sewing- Machine. y NO. 97,935. Patented Dec. 14,1869.

EPETS, PNDTOGLITHOGRAFKER. WASHIKGTN. D C.

siwi (ltiiiira Letters Patent No. 97,935, datati December 14, 1869.

IMPROVEIVBNT IN swmG-MAcHmE,

r The Scheule referred to in those :Letters Patent and making 'part of the same.

To all r t-]ihm it may concern Be it known that I, L. V. LATHROP, of Nyack, in b the County ofRocklanLl, and State of NewYork, have ivented a new and useful Improvement in Sewing- Machines; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a' full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilld in the art, to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings', forming part 'of this specific'ation. i

This iuventon relates t'o improvements in Sewingmachines and consists in certain improvements in mechanism for forming the loop, and for conveying the binding-thread through the same, in a manner to preventthe contact of the binding-thread spool, orits car I ier, with the thread of the needle, and thereby to avoid Wearing the same, and to produce 'more easily-operating parts; also a more permanent and reliable' ar rangemeht of apparatus, and calculated also 'to be more'ce'rtain toforiri'thstitch 4 Figure 1 represents a side clevation of a Sewingmachine constructed according to my improvements, a part of the table being shown in section;

Fig'ure 2 represents a transverse section of the table and front elevation' of the operatingdevices;

Figure 3 is apart-ial side elevation showing the position of the looper when the spool' is pa`ssing through theloop; and l Fi gur'e 4 is a. detail in the spool is passing through the loop.

similar. letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

l The needl-.operating devices, presse'r, and feed-de vices, are of common construction, and need not, therefore, bedescribed, I

I provide a pendent plate, A, with a groove in its face, standing in the vertical plane, or nearly so, of the aXis of the driving-shaft B, in which, groove the needle C works, and is supported throughout its length below the table; and to the bottom of this plate, which extends below the lowest position of the point of the needle, I pivot a bent looper, D, having a thinedged lip, E, arranged' so that when the needle is down it will, on the looper being vibrated past the n'eedle, pass sufliciently above the eye, and so closely against the needle, as to go between the 'thread and V theneedle intoa groove in the outer curved face .of

the said looper. `A top Viewof this groove is seen at P, fig. 2. i

This looper is then moved back in this way past the side of the needle, by a. cam, G, on the disk wheel H, on the end of the shaft B, working against the 'ends ot" a push-rod, I, connected to 'the end of the looper below'its pivot, forcing the said looper back into the position reprcsented in fig. 3, thereby forming a large loop for' the passage ofthe spool K, carrying the binding-thread.

plau view, also taken when This spool is niounted on journals in bearin'gs L, rising up from a rod, L', arranged to slide in the slotted tubnlar way N, consisting of a slotted tube with a Vertical flange or plate projecting below, and suspended transversely of the machine in any suitable way. It is notched at O, to provide room for the looper, in moving back, to form the loop. i

This spoohcarrier is moved back and forth by the notched slide M,working on the way N, and Operated by the slotted Vibratin'g-arm P, in which a piu, R, of the disk H works.

At S it is connected to a projection, T, of 'the slide The cam G, by which the looper is 'orced back,- terminates in a flange V", parallel with the face of the the spool-carrier returns to the position at the right,

as seen `in fig. 2, ready'for passing through the 'loo when the looper is again moved by the cam G.

As soon as the needle has descended to its farthest point below the abric, and formed a sufficient loop to be seized by the looper, the said'looper being grooved or lipped on its outside curve, moves backward and takes hold of this needle-loop, extending and carrying it back sufficiently for the free passage of the' spool and its carrier through the loop, and on the. inside of the cnrved looper.

Thelooper, in this movement, presses against the end of the spool-ho1der,so as to push it away from -contact with its driver. during said passage. The driver now pushes the spool-holder with its spool through this needle-loop, leaving-a bight ot' 'its thread inside of the n'eedle-loop. 4 The needle remains stationary during those' movements, the looper also holding the needle'loop stationary during the passage of the spool, and forms a shield between the needle, thread, and the under spool.

The locper now moves forward beyond the needle, again pressing a free passage b'etween the Spool-holder l (it having returned to its first position) and its drive-r.

The needlc now carries a portion of itslcop above the fabn'c, and returns with its thread after the fabrichas been fed along by'the feeding-arraugement, and again presents the needle-thread to the looper, which again y moves backward with the needle-loop as before, formng this loop out-of the former loop, except so much as has made fthe length of the previous stltch, this `'much having""b'een; drawn through the needle-eye. This movement of the looper completely tightens the former stitch, so that each stitch is made Without unnecessary take-nps above the fabric, or the, friction against either a bobbin-Spool case or shnttle, as in other shuttle-stitch machines.

It Will be seen that in this Way the thread is tightened up in the stitches without the aid of an y take-up devices, and thereby it encounters very much less. Wear and friction, and is consequeutly much less liable to break, and retains its full strength.

It will also be seen thatt-he loops may be made large enough to pass large commercial spools of bindingthiead through them, and that such spools may be used,

'thereby saviug'th e labor of rewinding.

The thread of the bindiug-SpoolKis carried through a guide-eye in a bar, W, connected to the bearings L, and extending from one to the other behind the spool.

The movement of the spool-carrier being imparted by walls in the slidc-M, the said carrier will naturally rest at the end of each movement against the wall by Which it has been pushed along, thereby closing the passage necessary for the looper in moving from side to side of the spool. I have, therefore, provided for shifting ,the spool and carrier along the slot, in the slide (the said slot being wider than the length of the carrier,) by the action of the looper on the carrier, in striking against thccurved project-ion a: of the bar W, when going behind the spool, and against the corner 2;' in co'mingforward.`

I do not claim the formation of the' shuttle-stitch by carrying the needle-thread over the under thread or spool; neither do I claim the use of the underlooper when it takes its loop ou its inside curve, 'such having been done before; but y What I do claim as of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patcnt, is-- 1. The combination ei' the grooved vibrating looper D and its actuating-cam, Withthe open spool-carrying frame, having its ends bevelled, and against Which ends thelooper operates, as described.

2. The coinbination of the grooved vibrating looper and open spool-carrying frame, having bevellcd ends, and constructed and operating together as described, with the Way N, having the opening O for the passage of the lopper, all substantially as described.

- 3. The arrangement of the needIe-guiding plate, the grooved vibrating l'ooper, the sIotted Way through Which the looper vibrates, and the Shuttle-carrying frame, When all are constructed as described. The above specification of my invention, signed by me, this 4th day of September, 1869.

. L. W. LATHROP.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. MABEE, ALEX. F. RoBERTs. 

